Overreactions to the LA Galaxy quest for a sixth title

Home field advantage doesn't guarantee anything

In the last five seasons, only one top seed in the West has made it to the MLS Finals. They happened to have won it all two years ago and that was LAFC.

They are the only instance since 2019 that has happened. They lost in the semifinals five years ago to eventual champion, the Seattle Sounders FC.

Last year's number one seed in the Western Conference, St. Louis City SC, was ousted in the first round of the playoffs. Two years before that, the Colorado Rapids suffered the same fate.

In 2020, Sporting Kansas City had home field advantage in the Western Conference playoffs. They lasted just one round as they were eliminated in the conference semifinals.

Recently, it is not a lock that the Western Conference's top seed makes it through to the MLS Finals.

Of the eight times in their franchise history, the Los Angeles Galaxy have only won the MLS Cup twice. That happened in 2002 and 2011.

In fact, that LA Galaxy team in 2011 was the only other top seed in the Western Conference to win the MLS Cup in the past 13 years besides LAFC.

While it is a nice success story for the 2024 to be unbeaten at home this season (with just one home game remaining). Maybe home field advantage in the Western Conference playoffs doesn't look so lucrative, after all.